Thanks everyone for the helpful explanations! I feel much better knowing that my negative SAI is actually a good thing for financial aid. I'll keep an eye out for my award letters and compare them carefully. Really appreciate all the insights about Pell Grants and institutional aid differences!

Congratulations on your negative SAI! That's definitely good news for your financial aid prospects. Just wanted to add that beyond the Pell Grant, you should also look into your state's grant programs - many states have additional need-based grants for students with very low SAI numbers like yours. Also, don't forget to apply for work-study if it's offered at your schools. With your family income around $48k and being the only one in college, you're likely to qualify for the maximum federal aid available. Make sure to submit your FAFSA early each year to get the best shot at limited funding programs!

Thank you for this information! I'll check the NACAC list and reach out to both schools about possible extensions. This whole process has been so much more stressful than when my older son applied 4 years ago.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue! My son was accepted to 4 schools and 2 of them are being completely vague about 2024-25 costs. What's really frustrating is that one school told me over the phone that they "expect" tuition to increase but couldn't give me even a ballpark figure. Meanwhile, I'm trying to compare actual financial aid packages and make an informed decision. The FAFSA delays have definitely made everything more complicated, but I agree with others here that some schools seem to be using it as an excuse to delay announcing what are probably significant tuition hikes. I've started keeping a spreadsheet of which schools are being transparent vs. which ones are being evasive - it's actually becoming a factor in our decision-making process. Transparency matters, especially when we're talking about potentially taking on debt for the next 4 years. Has anyone had luck getting actual numbers by going through admissions counselors instead of financial aid offices? Sometimes they have more flexibility to share preliminary info.

UPDATE: Mystery solved! After all your helpful advice, my daughter checked her student portal and found her financial aid package was posted THREE WEEKS AGO. 🤦‍♀️ She claims she never got an email notification, but I'm skeptical. The good news is the package is there and now we can make our decision. Thank you all for your help - this forum is amazing!

This is such a common issue! I'm a financial aid advisor at a different university, and I see this happen ALL the time. Students receive dozens of emails from their schools during application season, and financial aid notifications often get buried or overlooked. A few additional tips for other parents reading this: 1) Set up calendar reminders to check student portals weekly during aid season (March-April), 2) Have your student forward ALL university emails to you if they agree to it, and 3) Most schools have a "Financial Aid Checklist" in the portal that shows what documents are missing or what steps need completion. Oliver, glad you got it sorted out - now make sure she accepts the package promptly as others mentioned!

Glad it worked out! For anyone else encountering this problem, remember these key points about the 2025-2026 FAFSA: 1. Contributors must use "Submit" not "Sign and Exit" 2. Parent/contributor signatures must be completed before the student signs 3. Each person needs their own FSA ID to sign their section 4. If using IRS Data Retrieval, verify the imported data before signing 5. Check for the confirmation email with your SAI number The Department of Education has acknowledged these signature issues and is working on clearer instructions, but these workarounds should help in the meantime.

As someone who just went through this exact same nightmare with my twin daughters' FAFSAs, I can't stress enough how important it is to screenshot EVERYTHING as you go through the process. Save screenshots of each signature confirmation page, the final submission page, and definitely that confirmation email with the SAI numbers. Also, pro tip for anyone still struggling: if you're getting signature errors even after following the Submit vs Sign and Exit advice, try logging out completely and clearing your browser data between each person's signature. The FAFSA system seems to get confused when multiple FSA IDs are used on the same device/browser session. We had to do this dance three times before it finally worked, but having those screenshots saved us from having to re-enter financial data when we had to restart. Congrats Charlotte on getting it sorted! The stress of these deadlines is no joke.

anybody else think its CRAZY we gotta be tax experts to get through college these days lol

Just wanted to add for anyone else reading this - if your parents are married filing separately, you'll need to add up BOTH of their line 24 amounts from their individual 1040 forms. Don't just use one parent's return! I almost made this mistake when I filled out mine earlier this year. The FAFSA wants the total household federal income tax paid, not just one parent's portion.